Two former Cats are headed to Women's Basketball Hall of Fame

2018-02-13T02:44:47Z2018-02-13T02:44:47Z

(Source: WAVE 3 News)

DeMoss, Barry Named to WBB Hall of Fame Class of 2018

Former UK head coach and letterwinner two of seven honorees to WBB Hall of Fame

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Former University of Kentucky women’s basketball head coach Mickie DeMoss and letterwinner Ceal Barry have been named honorees into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, it was announced tonight by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association.

The Class of 2018 was selected from a list of 10 finalists, which included former UK All-American Valerie Still. The 2018 induction will mark the 20th anniversary of the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, which held its grand opening and inaugural induction in 1999. The Class of 2018 will be officially inducted in Knoxville, Tennessee on June 9.

DeMoss and Barry are joined in the Class of 2018 by Tina Thompson, Katie Smith, Chamique Holdsclaw, Chris Dailey and Rose Marie Battaglia.

Mickie DeMoss will best be remembered as the architect who took over a struggling program in 2003 and in a short amount of time rebuilt UK women’s basketball back into a national contender. During her tenure the Wildcats participated in postseason play three consecutive seasons (one NCAA Tournament and two WNIT) and captured back-to-back 20-win seasons (2005-06 and 2006-07) for the first time since the 1989-90 and 1990-91 teams accomplished the feat.

DeMoss was named the 2006 SEC Coach of the Year, a UK first, after guiding the Wildcats to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in seven seasons. The Cats posted a 22-9 overall record in 2005-06, including a school-record nine conference wins and Kentucky made national headlines when it defeated No. 1 Tennessee in Rupp Arena. It was UK’s first win over a top-ranked team in school history.

DeMoss also drastically increased fan attendance, as UK ranked in the top three of the SEC and top 20 in national average attendance all four of her seasons. UK went from averaging 1,694 fans prior to her arrival in 2003 to breaking the school record with 5,863 fans per game in her final season.

Prior to UK, DeMoss spent 18 seasons at Tennessee, helping the Lady Vols garner six national championship titles and 13 Final Four appearances. She also was the head coach four seasons at Florida (1979-83). In eight seasons as a head coach, DeMoss has a career record of 116-124, including a 26-65 mark in the SEC.

Since leaving UK, DeMoss has served as an assistant coach at Texas, Tennessee, Louisiana Tech and for the WNBA’s Indiana Fever. She is currently an assistant coach at LSU.

An honoree of the Sue Feamster Trailblazer Award, Ceal Barry was a four-year letterwinner at Kentucky under Feamster and Debbie Yow from 1974-77. Barry, who attended Assumption High School in Louisville, Kentucky, was a guard with the Wildcats and part of the first class of female student-athletes to receive scholarship aid for athletics.

After graduation, she spent four seasons as head coach at Cincinnati and 22 seasons at the helm of the Colorado women's basketball program before retiring in 2005. She now serves as a Senior Associate Athletic Director/Senior Women’s Administrator at CU. A few of her many accolades are: 1994 National Coach of the Year; 1995 Carol Eckman Award; 1996 Olympic Gold Medalist; two-time District V Coach of the Year; four-time Big Eight Coach of the Year; 510 Career Wins at UC and CU; 12 NCAA Tournaments.